The Ordering of Determiners

Determiners occur before nouns, and they indicate the kind of reference which the nouns have. Depending on their relative position before a noun, we distinguish three classes of determiners.

	Predeterminer	Central Determiner	Postdeterminer	Noun
I met	all	my	many	friends

A sentence like this is somewhat unusual, because it is rare for all three determiner slots to be filled in the same sentence. Generally, only one or two slots are filled.

Predeterminers

Predeterminers specify quantity in the noun which follows them, and they are of three major types:

1. "Multiplying" expressions, including expressions ending in times:

twice my salary double my salary ten times my salary

2. Fractions

half my salary one-third my salary

3. The words all and both:

all my salary both my salaries

Predeterminers do not normally co-occur:

*all half my salary

Central Determiners

The definite article the and the indefinite article a/an are the most common central determiners:

all the book half a chapter

As many of our previous examples show, the word my can also occupy the central determiner slot. This is equally true of the other possessives:

all your money all his/her money all our money all their money

The demonstratives, too, are central determiners:

all these problems twice that size four times this amount

Postdeterminers

Cardinal and ordinal numerals occupy the postdeterminer slot:

the two children his fourth birthday

This applies also to general ordinals:

my next project our last meeting your previous remark her subsequent letter

Other quantifying expressions are also postdeterminers:

my many friends our several achievements the few friends that I have

Unlike predeterminers, postdeterminers can co-occur:

my next two projects several other people

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